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Steers take bi-district playoff game against Bowie

CISCO — Riding the wave of momentum that got them in the postseason — and guard Kevin Dunn — the Bowie Jackrabbits tested the Big Spring Steers early in Monday’s bi-district playoff game.To combat that, the Steers didn’t just rely on Luke Adams. There was Marc Segundo and Tristian Clay hitting big jumpers and Mike Menefield and Devante Lloyd dominating in the post. Everything fell into place for the Steers on the way to a 77-47 win to start the boys’ Class 3A playoffs. “Luke only had one point in the first quarter, but we had 19 as a team,” BSHS head coach Cliff Thompson said. “There was lots of ball movement, sharing the ball, which is exactly what we need when they do that. Any time Luke went inside the 3-point line, four of their guys stepped up and made a wall, which made it hard to pass in there. We found other players who hit shots.”The Steers had four players in double figures. Adams finished with 28, Marc Segundo had 15 and Devante Lloyd and Mike Menefield had 10 each. Tristian Clay wasn’t that far off from making it five players in double figures. He had nine.Adams’ lone point in the first quarter was by way of a free throw and it wasn’t helping that Dunn couldn’t miss a shot in the first half.Big Spring had a slim 19-16 lead heading into the second quarter. Dunn made it hard for the Steers to jump out to a substantial lead. He scored eight points in the first, 11 in the second and he hit all four of his 3-pointers in the first half. Thompson noted Dunn’s ability to shoot and he said if the Bowie guard was open, he wasn’t missing. The Steers settled down, though, and while Adams got hot, so did the rest of the Steers. Big Spring turned a 10-point lead at halftime into 30-point win and Adams credits the defense.“We just stuck with what we did best and our defense,” he said. “We knew eventually, that was going to win us the game. They were pretty hot in the beginning, but we just knew their luck would run out.”Shutting down Dunn was definitely a factor. The guard didn’t score a point in the second half after torching the Steers for 19 in the first. Adams said Clay, who guarded Dunn, is to thank for taking one of Bowie’s key players out of the game. Once again, a lot of Bowie’s attention was put on Adams and shooters like Segundo reaped the rewards. “He got me some open shots, I was feeding off of him,”Segundo said of Adams. “... I love it. That’s why I love playing with this guy.”Thompson said this is the kind of output the Steers will need going forward. Having everyone feed off the attention opponents put on the high-scoring Adams is only going to help the team.Big Spring will have its hands full in the next playoff game. No. 4 Kennedale is on tap at 8 p.m. Friday in Breckenridge. The Steers will quickly go from favorites in the bi-district round to underdogs in the area championship.“I’m going to tell the guys (today) there have been bigger upsets in sports than Big Spring beating Kennedale,” said Thompson,who just got his first playoff win as a head coach. “They’re not going to make a movie if we win this one. It’s not that big of an upset. We can’t go in scared or intimidated. We have to believe we can play and go make it happen.”